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Eight
o’clock, Cairo morning, polling stations opened their doors to the long queues
of Egyptians in orderly formation
outside, waiting to cast their ballot papers in the first multi-candidate unfettered
presidential elections in Egypt since the January 25 revolution. Choosing the new leader is a tough challenge
for many Egyptians.

Ideally,
elections should be held soon after a regime topples, within six months, to fill
the legitimacy gap that follows. In Egypt, the transitional period, once promised
to be six months, was extended to almost seventeen, characterized by failed
governance and public depression. Public appetite for democracy has plummeted. The
initial post-revolution sense of drift is becoming eclipsed by growing every day
insecurities and economic problems as well as violent clashes. So turn-out for
the presidential elections were poor. Apart from the call of a few political
parties and activists for a
boycott of SCAF’s elections, which they allege are inevitably rigged under
a military rule, public political apathy cannot be ignored.

Based
on the results of the elections, evidence suggests that the opinion polls are misleading and deceptive. Despite reports
of declining
support of Egyptians to the Islamists due to their weak parliamentarian
performance, the Freedom and Justice party and the Muslim Brotherhood presidential
candidate, Dr.
Muhamed Mursi, came out on top in the first round of the presidential
elections. In addition, the unexpected surge of Ahmed Shafiq, last prime
minister of the Mubarak regime, to second ranking is more surprising still –
given all the reports of his lack of popularity among voters. Ironically,
Moussa and AbulFoutouh, leading the Egyptian presidential race in the public
surveys, will not be heading into the second round.

The run-off
between Morsi & Shafiq points to one undeniable conclusion: a
leaderless revolution could topple a dictator but, when it comes to the ballot
boxes, should not remain leaderless. As the vote-counting is under way, the
total votes gained by the two candidates perceived as pro-revolution, Sabahi and AbulFoutouh, were more than the one attracted by Shafiq or Mursi.
However, they will not be present in the run-off. The fragmentation of votes
between them would not have happened if the revolutionary forces had overcome
their differences and unified their powers behind one candidate.

In
any eventuality, Egyptians voting in the second round of the presidential
elections are caught between a rock and a hard place. Whoever will be the
winner; those elections will not be a landmark in the post-revolutionary
transition to democracy. It is even doubtful that the presidential elections
will restore stability to the country. The fluid Egyptian environment will spark
struggle between the secularists and the Islamists, the haves and have-nots,
the influential military and the recalcitrant youth, impatient for change, to
define a new balance of power. It's not the end of the revolution; but it may just
be the beginning.